At the session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, September 23rd, Donald Trump let loose with nearly an hour of invective against . . . well, against nearly everyone he could think of.

Surprisingly, that included — in a stunning 180-degree turn from his usual soft-pedaling concerning Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine — a statement that he now believes that country “is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” and calling Russia a “paper tiger.”

It took two days, but when Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov finally acknowledged the slur, it was merely to say that “Russia is more compared with a bear. There are no paper bears.” [Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC Daily, September 25, 2025.]

Another two days had passed when, on September 27th, Bloomberg issued a report that European diplomats from the UK, France and Germany had privately warned Moscow that NATO forces were prepared to shoot down any Russian aircraft violating European airspace. This, of course, took place in the wake of numerous recent incursions by Russian drones and warplanes into Polish, Romanian, Danish and Estonian airspace, which have been seen by some as a test of NATO’s willingness and readiness to respond to a real invasion.

Asked how Russia would react if NATO were to shoot down a Russian plane, Peskov said:

“You know, I don’t even want to talk about this; it’s a very irresponsible statement.” [Dmitry Antonov, Mark Trevelyan and Lucy Papachristou, Reuters, September 26, 2025.]

But then he did have a bit more to add:

“It’s very irresponsible because accusations against Russia that its military aircraft violated someone’s airspace and intruded into someone’s skies are groundless. No convincing evidence has been presented.”

No surprise there — just your standard Kremlin denial.

But yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took the floor at the U.N. and offered this:

“Threats of force against Russia, accused of practically planning an attack on the North Atlantic Alliance [NATO] and the European Union [EU], are becoming increasingly common. President Putin has repeatedly debunked such provocations.

“Russia has never had and does not have such intentions, but any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response.” [Kathryn Armstrong, BBC, September 27, 2025.]

Well, now, where do I begin?

First of all, Putin and Peskov seem to have conflated “debunking” with “denying.” Maybe it’s a linguistic problem . . . but I doubt it. They’re just dissembling.

And further, they have now progressed from mere denial to the more aggressive Kremlin tactic of “DDD”: Deny, Deflect, Denounce. Twist the truth so far out of shape that you can then accuse your opponent of the very act of which you yourself are guilty. And in so doing, you are positioned to assume the role of victim, striking back in “self-defense.”

After all, isn’t that exactly what they have been trying to make the world believe about their “special military operation” in Ukraine?

The question next arises: Why now? They haven’t finished with Ukraine yet. And Kyiv’s recent successful attacks on Russian oil and gas production and distribution facilities are having a devastating effect on Moscow’s economy, to the point of having to cut exports and ration domestic consumption. Why open a new Pandora’s box when things are already going so badly?

But perhaps that’s the point. By manufacturing the “need” to defend themselves against alleged NATO aggression, they would have given themselves the perfect face-saving excuse for backing out of Ukraine and blaming the whole ugly mess on the West.

Or maybe I’ve just read one too many byzantine John le Carre novels; it may all turn out to be much ado about nothing. Whatever the truth is, at this point only Putin knows for sure. And trying to second-guess him has thus far eluded even the most seasoned Russia experts.

So, as always, we wait for whatever tomorrow may bring.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/28/25